It doesn’t matter how you start a conversation about change, they all end the same way: when someone declares your idea will fail because it is contrary to ‘human nature’.
‘People won’t go for it…they hate change… they’ll cheat the system…they’ll screw this up because they just won’t give a damn… it’s just human nature.’
Really? I’m not so sure.
To say something is human nature is to say it’s been hard-wired into our minds and bodies and therefore true about every human, every time.
We all breathe, eat, grow, sleep, dream. We all die. We all get tired, emotional and scared from time to time. These are true of us all and cannot be changed, so therefore qualify (in my book) as ‘human nature.’
So what about selfishness; are we all just out for ourselves? Think of all the rescue workers and volunteers, charity groups and activists, ‘Professionals Without Borders’ and community organisers giving their time (and often their lives) for the sake of others.
How do we explain such people? Either: a) selfishness is NOT a hard-wired ‘nature’ or b) these people are not human… although all the ones I’ve met so far clearly have been.
Test out other ‘human natures’ (‘we’re all vain, we all want money’ etc.) and you find the same thing: most of us are not like that at all. But some of us are, so we should start searching for something much more specific, something that might apply to a particular individual or their group; in other words, their culture.
When we say ‘culture’ we’re talking about all the things we’ve learned to think, say and do that make us distinctive from others. It’s all the subtle things that make a book club distinctive from a sports club, a circus distinctive from a platoon, a bureaucracy distinctive from a commune.
They’re all cultures and they all produce distinctive notions and behaviours. They ‘cultivate’ collaboration or competition, playfulness or aggression, logic or instinct to suit the needs of its members, which might explain why there are cultures dedicated to just about any human tendency. There are action groups and discussion groups, help groups and hate groups, arts groups and gun groups; groups devoted to selfless altruism, groups committed to selfish materialism.
Still with me? Good.
Because if things like aggression and selfishness and hate are ‘human cultures’ NOT ‘human natures’ then they are NOT a hard-wired feature of who we are; they’re just things that some of us have learned to do. And whatever has been learned can be unlearned.
Of course, some behaviours really are part of our nature and cannot be changed, but not as many as everyone seems to think. So next time someone plays the Human Nature Gambit to block meaningful change and reform, don’t just accept it without a fight.
‘Cos that’s not human nature. Or is it?
Meg
I agree that human nature has little to do with the change factor. I think fear has more to do with it because fear is in place when we haven’t got faith in what we want to achieve. My thoughts are this, events shape our lives. Whether we come from the Sudan and the events are war and famine or whether we come from Australia and our events are couched in the family dynamic of having no males through the generations due to wars, it is these events (and many others) that go towards shaping who we are. Then the subsequent experiences that come out of these events and the people that impact on us create the foundations of who we are. But what if the assumptions that have shaped and moulded our thoughts and judgements of others over a long period of time are wrong? What do you do with them then? As humans I believe some of us challenge them and face them head on and others through circumstances have them reinforced. So without knowing what has shaped your foundations it is difficult to change your thoughts and attitudes. My suggestion to people is go get some knowledge to make you aware of the change that is needed, embrace the challenge and change your attitude with some news skills under your belt. If we can do this, we can be the change we want to see (bit of Gandhi there 🙂